Friedrich Zelnik
| Friedrich Zelnik | |
|---|---|
Zelnik prior to 1931
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| Born |
17 May 1885 Czernowitz, Duchy of Bukovina, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 29 November 1950 (aged 65) London, England |
| Occupation | director producer actor |
Frederic Zelnik (17 May 1885 - 29 November 1950) was one of the most important producers-directors of the German silent cinema. He also appeared on screen as an actor.
Friedrich Zelnik was born in a Jewish family in Czernowitz, today in Ukraine, at the time the capital of the Duchy of Bukovina in the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Czernowitz has been then largely populated by Jews and has been after Wilno the most an important city for the Jewish culture in Eastern Europe. After the studies in Vienna, Friedrich Zelnik worked as an actor in theaters in Nürnberg, Aachen, Worms, Prague and finally Berlin - in the theaters Theater an der Königsgrätzer Straße, Berliner Theater, Komödienhaus.
In 1914 Friedrich Zelnik began acting in films, and after 1915 producing and directing movies while still appearing in roles as an actor in other director's films. In 1918 he married a young Polish ballet dancer turned film actress named Lya Mara and promoted her to stardom by producing and directing movies for her. In 1920 he established a film production firm Zelnik-Mara-Film GmbH.
Popular, operetta style costume films like The Blue Danube, The Bohemian Dancer, Dancing Vienna, Mariett Dances Today brought Lya Mara and Zelnik enormous success in Germany and beyond. Several of his collaborators, such as cameraman Frederik Fuglsang and production designer André Andrejew are perceived today as important artists of the German silent cinema.
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